


Come Take My Hand

by BookDragon44



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel 3490, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Civil War Team Iron Man, Earth-19999, Earth-3490, Emotional Hurt, F/M, Fix-It of Sorts, Hurt No Comfort, Hurt Tony Stark, M/M, Mostly bitter, Not Steve Friendly, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Protective Bruce Banner, Protective Jarvis (Iron Man movies), Protective Sam Wilson, Science Bros, So many feels from Civil War, Sorry Not Sorry, Sort of JARVIS (Iron Man Movies) lives, Temporary Character Death, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, but so is Tony
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-12
Updated: 2018-02-19
Packaged: 2019-03-17 03:59:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13650966
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BookDragon44/pseuds/BookDragon44
Summary: As Tony is lying broken and dying in the Siberian bunker, his thoughts begin to drift to the what ifs. Little did he know that at that very moment, across the world a fellow what-ifer has created a portal that allows him to access alternate universes. Now stuck in an alternate world with his ex-crush and parent's murder, Tony must find a way back home while also trying to deal with feelings.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my first fic after years of not writing but I decided with a little push from a friend to start this. So disclaimer: I do not own anything! Marvel owns the rights to all the characters and universes. Title comes from the song What You Mean to Me by Sterling Knight

As the echoes of the footprints begin to fade, Tony falls back to the cold, hard floor. It took everything in him not to groan as his battered body rattled against the broken suit. Various areas? of his body complained against the movement, the loudest being his neck and shoulder. He knew he shouldn’t have taken that sling off but when has he ever listened to a medical opinion. As he took inventory of all his injuries, both from the airport and from the beat down from the timeless duo, he could feel his breath shortening. The suit was damaged beyond repair with Steve’s final attack. But the suit wasn’t the only thing broken, he was too.

His thoughts couldn’t help but drift to those he tried to protect; Peter and Rhodey, even Sam and isn’t just sad that he could only think of three people. He had thought the Avengers were his family but their betrayals destroyed that. He had given everything to them, his heart, soul, even weapons he thought were the right hands. Tony guessed that nothing would ever change. Every time he thought he was doing something right, it always ended up being the wrong choice.

Tony reflected on the past six days. On Rhodey’s injury, Peter’s introduction to the team and to everything, everything that happened with Sam, even what he did to Bucky. Oh, he wished he could take everything back, wished for different choices.

He never wanted this to happen, he only wanted to protect the team. He didn’t mean for the confrontation at the Leipzig airport to turn into a battle. If he had only been less stubborn then Rhodey wouldn’t be paralyzed and Peter wouldn’t have been injured. He should have never brought Peter in the first place or should have taken him out as soon as the fighting had turned violent. And Tony should have never attacked Bucky. As much as he has been hurt and still wants to lash out at Steve, he knows Bucky didn’t have any say in any of this. Logically, he knows this but it still hurts.

For the last twenty-five years he had blamed his father for killing his mother and he never got over their deaths. It was still so fresh in his mind because of his B.A.R.F. system. Tony could still smell the perfume his mother always wore at Christmas and feel the touch of her hand on his cheek for the last time. His head pounded with the electromagnetic headache from using the system coupled with the throbbing of the injuries to his head and neck. But even with the pain and the black spots blinking into his vision, there was one final person on his mind: Sam Wilson.

Even though the two of them did not know each other well, it always felt as if something was there. A little spark that had potential, if fueled right. Tony wished things could have been different, he wished he could have kept his word.

_“I tried Sam, I really did. I came as a friend but ended up making it worse. You would be so disappointed and angry at me. I deserve all of this, everything,”_ Tony thought as his eyes slowly closed. He forced them open and looked around the cold and dark room until they rested on the Siberian landscape before him.

_“What a beautiful place. If only I could go back and stop all of this,”_ his eyes began to drift shut with a sorrowful smile on his face. Tony didn’t know how long he had been in the bunker, he could only guess. A few hours? More? It was getting dark, so it couldn’t have been long. It didn’t matter, he knew there was no help coming. He knew what was going to happen.

“I’m…I’m sorry I… c-c-couldn’t do… more,” he whispered in a broken voice to the empty room, filled with ghosts of his past. Yinsen, Charlie Spencer, JARVIS, Agent, Bruce, the victims of New York, of Sokovia.

His headache began to worsen but he couldn’t scream, he didn’t have enough strength. As the black spots began to lessen, a white light began to glow off in the distance. He smiled as his vision turned white.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The first thing he noticed was darkness, then the sound of a familiar voice trickled in.

“Please identify yourself. You are trespassing on private property. If you do not state your name and reason for being here in the next couple of minutes, I will have no choice but to take countermeasures.”

_"Wait? That can’t be right? That sounds like…”_ , Tony’s eyes shot open.

“Scanning now for weapons.”

The first thing he noticed was the brightness of the room. _“That can’t be right? It was almost night just a second ago,”_ he thought. Tony’s eyes frantically looked around for the source of the sound but staying awake was difficult. He was so cold and very tired. The last 36 hours were catching up to him. His eyes began to shut again.

“Multiple contusions and injures detected. Immediate help required. Calling for assistance now. Please stay with me sir. You will be alright. The Avengers are on their way to assist you,” came the voice.

Even as Tony’s body subconsciously flinched at the name, he couldn’t fight the urge to rest his eyes. _“It must be a dream… I’m glad I could hear you one last time…. JARVIS,”_ he thought as he began to lose consciousness.

“TONY! Oh my god! What happened?!? Are you alright?” Not even considering how he got wherever he was, Sam dove towards Tony lying on the ground and cradled him in his lap. The first thing Sam noticed was the blood around his head and the cracked and dim reactor from the suit. Tony struggled to turn his head and look at Sam one last time.

Tony began to tear up, _“I wish this was real. But I’m glad I was able to have this for the last time whether real or fantasy.”_

“... S-Sam…I’m… sorry…,” came in a voice so low Sam had to strain to hear it. With those words, Tony went limp in Sam’s arms.

“Tony? Tony? Can you hear me? Tony!” Sam frantically called out but there was no response from the cold body.

A tear slid down Sam’s cheek as he began to think of all the unspoken words that he would never be able to say to Tony. All of the apologizes he owed Tony and every moment where words will forever be left unspoken. Sam wanted more moments with him, moments where he would be able to talk and get to know him better. He wanted to get more time with the larger-than-life billionaire. But he knew he would never have the chance to hear him speak again or fly with him in the skies.

Footsteps sounded in front of Sam causing him to look up, although he kept his body around Tony’s. He wasn’t able to protect him earlier but he’ll do it now. To his surprise, a female with short brown hair and brown eyes that could pass as Tony’s twin came running into the room. She hesitated for a moment as she took in Tony lying on the ground in his suit but quickly shook it off as the image of the motionless body shocked her back into motion.

“Hurry! We need to get him to Medical! If we don’t move now, he **will** die,” she exclaimed.

“What?” stuttered Sam.

“If I may be of assistance? I am detecting a faint heartbeat from our guest whom I believe you called Tony? But according to my scans, with the severe internal injuries if we do not stabilize Mr. Tony soon, he will die.” came the voice of Vision.

As confusing as everything was, only one thing mattered the most: Tony. Sam was overwhelmed at the fact he was still alive. He still had a chance. _“He’s alive,_ ” was the only thought running through his mind.

“Please help him. I can’t let him die,” Sam begged, “Please.”

The female nodded her head, “Of course. Right now, the only thing that matters is helping this man. But once we get him stabilized I need to ask you some questions.”

“I’ll do anything. As long as Tony’s okay,” Sam agreed, “Now where am I going?” Sam grabbed Tony under his legs and back and tried to stand. He had greatly underestimated the weight of the suit as he couldn’t even get off the ground.

“The suit is too heavy, we are going to have to get him out of it if we want to carry him to Medical,” Sam suggested. As he said this, he began to look for the latches to unlock the suit. Most of the suit was scratched or bent from damage but Sam was able to find most of the latches along the legs. The female crouched down and began to help by locating the latches for the chest and upper body. How she knew where they were was a question for another time. When they pulled on the latches, nothing happened. Sam realized that with the suit dead, the mechanisms wouldn’t be working. So once each latch was found and pulled, the two manually pulled apart the suit.

As each piece of Tony’s body was revealed, Sam was more and more horrified. Spots around his suit were stained dark red and the bruises he noticed when Tony came to speak with him seemed more pronounced. Slowly, Sam began to stop moving. Seeing Tony like that was shocking, he always seemed fine, unbreakable.

Now he just seemed vulnerable.

The female grunted as she tried to peel off the chest plate but it wasn't budging.

“We’ll have to move him like this. If we waste any more time trying to get the armor off, I don't know what'll happen.”

Even though her words registered, Sam made no movement to move Tony. All he did was stare blankly at the crushed reactor. Noticing this, the female lookalike moved to pick up Tony. Seeing her reaching for him shocked Sam out of his trance. In the blink of an eye, Sam pushed the stranger away from Tony and gently picked him up bridal-style.

“Lead the way,” he said bluntly.

She nodded and quickly started toward the elevators across the room. Sam followed and as they walked he decided to look around. He knew he wasn't in his cell anymore and was confused on how he got out as well as where he currently was. He hadn't realized but as he glanced around, the room seemed very similar to the Tower before Ultron destroyed it. The elevator doors dinged and opened as they reached it. Once inside, without pushing any buttons, they began to descend.

“JARVIS?” the female prompted, “Make sure everything is ready for when we arrive.”

“Already done ma'am,” JARVIS? Replied, “Dr. Banner is just awaiting your arrival.”

“JARVIS? Banner?” Sam thought out loud but there was no reply as the elevator doors opened to the Medical floor.

“What are we dealing with?” was the first thing asked once they arrived at the hospital-like floor. Sam turned towards the voice and was greeted with a man with short dark hair and glasses who gestured the hospital bed in the middle of the room. Even as they were rushing around, Sam gently set Tony down on the awaiting bed.

“JARVIS says he has severe internal damage and there are a multitude of external injuries as well. Most obvious are the black eye, some kind of head trauma that may affect both the neck and head. Left shoulder is very bruised and tender, it seems to be in conflicting stages of healing. Some parts seem days old while others seem fresh. Bruising is consistent along the entirety of the body, but I’m most worried about the chest. This guy and I were unable to remove the armor around the chest plate, it’s too bent. If, at first glance, this armor is similar to mine, it could mean nothing except it did its job but I’m not 100 percent sure my calculations on the armor are correct.”

“I see. That is troubling. First, let’s get this chest plate off and see what we are dealing with. Most of the other injuries are superficial but I won’t be able to see how to deal with any internal damage like broken ribs or punctured lungs until this plate is off. Thank the gods I kept that laser we used the last time you were in your suit after it died.”

The doctor, Sam refuses to call him Bruce because it means a hell of a headache if what he thinks is going on is what is actually going on, turns to a table and picks up a small pen. He turns back to Tony and as he clicks the bottom of it, a red light shines out and it begins to cut through the armor like warm butter. Once cut all the way through, the doctor and woman pulled away their halves of the armor.

With the entirety of the armor finally gone, the doctor made quick work of Tony’s suit. The same suit Tony was wearing when he came to visit him on the Raft, Sam realized. But that wasn’t what caught Sam’s attention, rather than what was underneath the suit.

In the middle of all the scars from where the reactor used to be and where the broken reactor was, there was a single line arcing across Tony’s chest. Sam wondered what could have made that mark and almost immediately, one came to the front of his mind. One he knew extremely well. So well that Sam knew if he placed Steve’s shield on the line now indented in Tony’s chest, it would be a perfect match.

Bile began to rise up his throat. The implications of Steve attacking Tony were too hard to stomach. Did he do this? Tony was only there because of him, because he told him where Steve had gone. Was Steve so far gone that he hadn’t listened to Tony even though he had promised to go as a friend? Or did Tony lie to him and try to bring Steve in? Even if they had fought, why hadn’t Steve tried to help Tony? Weren’t they still friends even with the Accords? What happened in Siberia? As Sam stared at the line on Tony’s chest, he knew only one person could give him the answers and he was currently dying because of injuries from his fellow teammate.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Basically this is a bunch of angst mixed with some humor. You get to meet Bucky and see how Tony is doing. Sam does a dumb thing but one everyone will love. Enjoy!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I am so sorry it took so long to post this! I had such a writers block with Bucky and T'Challa plus school being so stressful but I got through it. But to make it up to you guys, here is a long chapter (over 3,000 words). Please read and review! It makes me so happy to hear what you guys thought! Special thanks to my beta Snixerz99 for this chapter and the last chapter.

The first thing he noticed was the conflicting warmth and cold. His fingers twitched as if to send the warmth in his chest to them. Was everything alright? How long has he been out?

“Sergeant Barnes? Are you…”

Sounds drifted in and out and he tried to force his eyes open. But he was so tired. _“Maybe I'll rest a little while longer,”_ he thought as he sank back under into the comfort of unconsciousness.

Cold. It was cold. He could feel it creeping up his body and began shivering.

“C-C-C-Cold,” he stuttered.

… _p…ep_ … _eep…Beep…Beep…_

An alarm? Something was wrong. As he floated in the darkness, the feeling something was off jolted him awake. In an instant, his body shot up and hit the glass of his container. The person watching over him jumped backwards in shock.

“Sergeant?” came a deep, accented voice, “My friend, everything is alright. Do not panic.” He turned his head to follow the voice, a familiar one.

“Your...Highness?” he whispered, “How long?”

“Not long. A few days. Your friend has brought a couple of his own,” T’Challa answered, a slight tone of bitterness coming through. A hissing noise sounded in his ears followed by the sound of the motors turning. The glass in front of him opened and the Wakandan king reached to help him out.

“A few days? Were you able to remove Hydra’s programming that fast? Is Steve okay?” Bucky questioned rapid-fire, not giving the king a chance to reply.

“Mr. Rogers is fine, as are his uninvited guests. We detected a slight rise in your brain activity so we released you from cryostasis earlier than planned,” he explained as he tried to answer all his guest’s questions.

Bucky felt a slight pressure in the back of his head but pushed away the discomfort. There shouldn’t have been any problems, he knew that. Rather than focus on the possibility that only Hydra could freeze him, he was more worried if he could be trusted long enough to go back under.

Bucky’s thoughts quickly focused on the comments about Steve and from there they drifted to the fight between them and the Iron Man. He wondered if the man was able to signal for help. It had gone against everything he had learned in the Army to leave someone behind but Steve had reassured him that his talking computer would be able to get help.

“And how is Mr. Stark?” he wouldn’t feel right until he knew that Mr. Stark was okay.

T’Challa titled his head in confusion, “Mr. Stark? Why would you ask about him? Did he not he blow off your arm?”

Bucky nodded and looked over to his left shoulder as he answered, a sorrowful smile on his face, “He did but he was a victim too. He watched his parents murdered in front of him with the one whose hands had done it was standing next to him. You can’t say you don’t understand why he lashed out.

“He didn’t deserve any of what we did to him. I deserved all of it but he didn’t.”

T’Challa stepped forward to place his hand on Bucky’s shoulder, “None of us deserved any of it. We are all victims. But may I be the first to say that I am sorry for the part I did play in recent events.”

Bucky looked down at the hand on what was left of his arm and then into T’Challa’s eyes. He didn’t give a reply to his statement, only looking away after a few seconds.

T’Challa sighed as he realized that he hadn’t believed his statement. “If you feel up to it, my scientists and I would like to study the machine and you to see what went wrong.”

Bucky only nodded, the pressure in the back of his head flaring up again. He allowed T’Challa to steer him to a bed off to the side, the bed Bucky remembered he had been on only a few minutes ago. _“No, not a few minutes ago; a few days ago,”_ he corrected himself.

“Did you inform Steve that I was awake Your Highness?” Bucky questioned.

“We have not. We thought it preferable that he not be aware of your... state of mind at the moment. And please call me T’Challa, Sargent.” the King replied though his voice was clipped as he spoke of the Captain.

Bucky gave a small smile at the request and nodded, “Only if you call me Bucky, I am no longer that Sargent from Brooklyn. You didn’t have to apologize Your Highness; your actions were understandable.

“Is everything with Steve okay? Because it doesn’t sound like it? Every time you speak of him you sound annoyed or mad.”

Taken aback at the observant comment, T’Challa didn’t reply for a few seconds, “...Yes actually. But it doesn’t matter, right now we are focused on you, not your friend.” He waved in a couple of scientists and they immediately headed over to the super soldier.

One of them began to place scanners on Bucky’s forehead and motioned for him to lift his tank top to place more readers on his chest. The other headed to the panel next to the cryo-chamber to check for bugs.

“Does anything feel off or different Mr. Barnes?” the scientist standing next to him probed.

Even though Bucky was no longer in the hands of Hydra, their conditioning never left. He was aware that he should alert the scientists to the pain in his head, which was growing stronger by the minute, but the years in Hydra that shocked him whenever he mentioned any pain made it so he just shook his head. Either way, he could take the pain as, it wasn’t too much for him to handle.

Muttering to themselves, the scientist moved away from Bucky to study the readings they were getting. T’Challa noticed the perplexed look and turned to study the tablet they were holding.

“It’s not possible!” T’Challa exclaimed softly, shocked by what he was reading.

The conversation between T’Challa and the two scientists began to cut in and out as the pain in Bucky’s head continued to grow. Soon it became so bad that he clutched the sides of his head and dropped it down between his knees, moaning in pain.

Everything went silent when the sound reached the group and they all turned towards their patient. As they took in his position and tightness of his muscles, they realized something was extremely wrong. T’Challa rushed over to Bucky and began trying to get his attention, “Sargent! Sargent! Bucky! What happened?” But there was no response other than another moan.

To Bucky, the only thing he could hear was a high-pitched wail. Soon the pain was too much and with one last moan, he could feel his body pitch forward and off the bed but before impact, everything went dark.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sam was pacing up and down the hallway, waiting for news on Tony. He had been kicked out once the doctor, who Sam still refused to call Bruce despite the fact he looked very similar to the man who abandoned the team after Sokovia, began to work on Tony. The female was sitting on a chair in the hallway staring down at a tablet. She was muttering and furiously typing on the tablet, the motion was such a Tony movement that Sam had to look away. He ignored the blurriness of his vision as he continued to pace.

The door opened to allow the doctor passage into the hallway. Sam, who was down the hallway at that moment, sped up his pace to reach the doctor.

“How is he? Is everything okay?” were the first words out of his mouth after several hours of silence.

The doctor cleared his throat and looked away from the looming figure that was Sam to gather his thoughts.

“He’s stable-” was all the doctor was able to get out before Sam interrupted him.

“Can I see him? Is he awake?”

The doctor shook his head. Choosing to answer the second question he said, “He is stable but I’m not sure if he’ll wake up. As of right now, it’s up to him.”

Hearing those words, Sam sagged to the ground as if the strings holding him up had been cut.

“Can I-” he took a shaky breath, "May I...May I see Tony?” Sam’s voice breaking on Tony’s name.

The doctor nodded his consent and held the door open for Sam to enter. Taking a deep breath, Sam pulled himself up and with a slight hesitation, walked back into the room.

Despite seeing Tony hours before, bloody and so pale he looked dead, the sight of him in the medical bed was a thousand times worse. He was still pale, with wires stuck in his arms and an oxygen tube down his throat. Tony looked so small and vulnerable, completely un-Tony, that Sam took a step back in disbelief. Holding onto the memory of Tony before everything, the memory of his smile, his eyes hardened and he moved to the edge of Tony’s bed. Sam began to reach for Tony’s hand but the guilt of Tony’s situation and his involvement drew him back.

“I-,” the words Sam had prepared failed him the second he tried to apologize to Tony. The strength he had gathered to bring himself into the room also failed him and he sank into the chair by Tony’s bed.

Tears streamed down Sam’s face and landed on his clasped hands. With his head low, he choked out the words between his sobs, “Tony, Tony. My god...I’m-I’m sorry. This-This sh-should have never hap-happened. God, I-I wish everything could have g-gone differently.”

Unnoticed by Sam, Tony’s eyes began to flitter as if he was beginning to wake up. His fingers started to twitch, looking for the warmth he had felt earlier.

Although Sam didn’t notice the movement, Bruce did. Within seconds he rushed over to Tony’s bed. Sam jerked his head up at the movement and, worried something wrong had happened, began questioning the doctor.

“What are you doing? Did something happen?”

“He was reacting to your voice. Keep talking! I think he was waking up,” he ordered Sam before muttering to himself, “It’s absolutely astonishing, it should be impossible…”

Hope flaring up in his chest, Sam began to ramble, telling different stories of the happiest moments he had with Tony.

“Remember that day we decided to go out and just fly around in the skies? You had been so stressed out in the lab because one of your tablets wouldn’t work correctly and you couldn’t figure out why. It shouldn’t had made you so stressed but then DUM-E decided he wanted to play with the fire extinguishers again and sprayed you and most of the lab, including one of the Iron Man suits, with foam. And believe me, you and I both never figured out how it was possible for DUM-E to get foam into the suit. JARVIS called me from the gym since he had sensed you were too overwhelmed and needed a break and upon seeing the lab I immediately brought you upstairs to tell you to change and grab a suit not covered in foam and meet me on the landing pad. You were too shocked that I had grabbed you that you had listened and ten minutes later, there you were. I had had no plan and was in fact winging it, although it had seemed like you hadn’t realized that, I’m sure you did and just didn’t want to say anything. So, spur of the moment, I asked you to fly with me. Just fly, a chance to feel the air, to relax and surprisingly you said yes. We ended up flying around for hours. I don’t think I had ever heard you laugh as freely as you did that afternoon. Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever heard you laugh like that since. I wish you would smile and laugh like that every day. I wish you could be that happy for the rest of your life. I wish I had realized this sooner and that I could have given you even more days like that.”

As Sam recounted one of his memories, Tony began to react. His eyes fluttered faster and he began to toss and turn.  The doctor held down Tony to restrict his movements and add more morphine to the IV drip. Tony’s eyes finally opened and the first thing he noticed was the needle stuck in his arm. His eyes tracked the tube to the IV drip and the morphine attached. His breathing began to pick up.

“No…” he groaned.

Both Sam and the doctor turned towards Tony at the sound.

“No...no...no…” he repeated.

The doctor turned towards Sam and gave him a questioning look but Sam just shrugged, not knowing what Tony meant.

“Tony? What is it?” Sam verbalized.

Tony’s pain-filled eyes slowly turned to look at Sam and then went back to the bag of pain medication.

“No...p-pain m-meds...alc-alcoholic…” was all he was able to get out before his eyes closed again and breathing slowed.

The doctor’s eyes widened in horror. “You didn’t tell me he was an alcoholic!” he said to Sam, chastising him, “I can’t give him this medication!”

Bewildered Sam replied, “I didn’t know. I knew he drank sometimes but not that he was an alcoholic.”

The doctor stormed out of the room to get a replacement for Tony but his last words as he left struck Sam hard, “You claim to be his friend, yet you didn’t know information that could have caused severe damage. Some friend you are.”

Once the medication was switched out, the doctor turned to Sam. “I don’t think he’ll wake up again today. Stay if you wish, JARVIS will be keeping an eye on you.” Each word was short and to the point.

Sam nodded and stayed in the chair he had sunk into when the doctor had left, giving his answer.

The female from earlier appeared in the room.

“I’m getting another alert from JARVIS. Someone else has appeared in the tower. JARVIS doesn’t know who it is or how he got here, just like the two of them. I want you to come with me. It seems he’s hurt but it’s not as bad as him,” she stated, nodding her head to where Sam and Tony were.

The doctor glanced back towards his patient in worry, “Are you sure? I’m not sure I should leave him.”

She nodded her head, “JARVIS’ scans are showing results that could cause problems if he attacks. We might need the Other Guy if he does. I won’t be able to handle him alone.”

“What about him? We shouldn’t leave him alone. We don’t know why they are here or who any of them are,” the doctor commented.

Sam realized they were talking about him. He could understand why the doctor was wary but it felt as if he didn’t trust Sam alone with Tony. The thought caused a sharp pain to resonate through his chest.

“Hey, don’t talk about me as if I’m not here!” Sam interrupted.

“Don’t worry about them, I’ve got someone coming to keep an eye on them,” she reassured the doctor, continuing the conversation as if Sam hadn’t spoken.

Once the doctor spoke his consent to meet the new arrival did the female address Sam.

“Don’t try anything. We are watching you. I may have helped your friend get help but that doesn’t mean I trust you. The only reason I helped you and that you aren’t in a cell right now is because your friend can’t be moved and I don’t want him freaking out when he doesn’t recognize anyone and injuring himself farther.”

Seeing how deadly serious she was, Sam didn’t speak l, he only nodded. He never wanted to get on her bad side.

Happy with his response, she turned on her heel and headed out of the room with the doctor following behind.

Minutes passed in silence as Sam continued to stare at Tony. He wasn’t sure who would be coming to watch over them but he was sure that it wasn’t anyone good. He began to think how it was possible to see all these familiar faces, faces and voices that are either dead or missing. It just wasn’t possible unless they went back in time. But if that was true, why wasn’t past-Tony present. The entire situation was confusing and Sam had no clue on how to fix anything.

 _“If only Tony was awake, I bet he would know the answer immediately,”_ Sam thought.

The sound of the door opening alerted Sam to the new guard arriving. As curious as he was to who they had sent, he kept his gaze on Tony. He was aware through his peripherals that the new person stayed by the door, as if saying there is no escape.

His curiosity quickly overpowered his worry for Tony. He knew that Tony wouldn’t wake for another undetermined number of hours and he couldn’t change that. He’d rather do something like talk to the guy watching them than stare at the slight rise and fall of Tony’s chest, which indicated that he was still alive.

Decision made, Sam turned in his chair to face the newcomer. As he took in the man’s large body-shape, his eyes landed on his face.

Immediately anger coursed through his body at seeing Steve’s face. All thoughts that this wasn’t the Steve he had seen earlier that day before he was locked up in the Raft fled his mind. He couldn’t believe they would allow that man to watch over Tony, like he actually cared enough to see if Tony was okay.

Sam quickly stood up, knocking over the chair and in a split second stalked over to Steve.

Steve noticed the angry glint in Sam’s eyes and began to take a stance to defend himself, “Hey, what are you doing?”

Seemingly not hearing Steve, Sam continued towards him. Almost too fast for the eye to see, Sam swung his clenched fist back and punched Steve right in the nose.

Steve stumbled backward at the force of the punch, surprised Sam was able punch him hard enough to break his nose.

“‘at was ‘at fo’?” Steve asked through the blood pouring down his face, “I did’t do anythin’ to you.”

Almost immediately after punching him, the anger left Sam’s body. Logic filtered back in, that this probably the Steve he knew.

His eyes widened as the female he still didn’t know the name of word’s came back to him. He was so screwed.

The sound of a panel sliding open filled the room followed by the cold voice of Vision, “You have attacked a member of this Tower and injured the ma’am’s husband. Extreme measure will now be taken.”

Before Sam could react, he felt a pinch in his neck. As his vision began to fade, he was able to pull out a dart from his neck. He felt as if he was floating within seconds and could feel his body swaying. But as his vision turned black, his last image was of Tony lying on the bed, left alone by Sam once again.


End file.
